Americans love alternative medicine, and they are paying a high price for that devotion. From regular visits to acupuncturists, chiropractors and naturopaths to the daily ingesting of homeopathic remedies, Chinese herbs, and megavitamins, the use of alternative therapies has become a $34 billion-a-year business. Fifty percent of Americans use some form of alternative medicine, with ten percent using it on their children. Celebrities routinely hawk their benefits. But, does any of it really work?

In the upcoming lecture, Alternative Medicine: Sense and Nonsense, Dr. Paul A. Offit will take a critical look at the field of alternative medicine and separate fact from myth. Drawing on current research he will examine popular alternative therapies and discuss the issues of medical ethics involved in alternative medicine, which is a largely unregulated industry under no legal obligation to prove its claims or admit its risks.

"Making decisions about our health is an awesome responsibility," writes Dr. Offit. "If we're going to do it, we need to take it seriously. Otherwise we will violate the most basic principle of medicine: first do no harm."

Come join us for a lively discussion!

The recipients of many awards and honors, Paul A. Offit, M.D. is Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases and Director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, as well as the Maurice R. Hilleman Professor of Vaccinology and Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He has appeared on The Today Show, Good Morning America, The Early Show, The Colbert Report, CNN, 60 Minutes, MSNBC, Dateline NBC, the Jim Lehrer NewsHour, CSPAN, FOX News, and National Public Radio, and is often interviewed in the New York Times, Washington Post, LA Times, Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, and USA TODAY.